By Julia Mericle
News Assignment Editor
St. Bonaventure is in the process of developing “The Gospel Vision of St. Francis,” a massively open online course (MOOC). A MOOC is a course that will be offered to an unlimited amount of people online and is not restricted to Bonaventure students.
Michael Hoffman, associate provost and chief information officer, said the course is open to anyone free of charge.
“The idea is to get the course out there and allow people to access it. Some MOOCs offered by other institutions have up to 40,000-50,000 students in a course,” Hoffman said. “We don’t expect this to have that many students, but it won’t be a traditional online course.”
Theology professor James Fodor said the potentially universal reach of the MOOC allows for a wider and less traditional audience to have access to the course.
Students will not receive a grade or credits for taking “The Gospel Vision of St. Francis.”
According to Hoffman, it is primarily a continuing education opportunity to learn more about a topic, rather than to get credentials or degree requirements.
Hoffman said the online course will use a combination of video clips, discussion forums and peer review projects.
Hoffman said the course will feature a number of instructors, but would not specify if they would be from Bonaventure.
“Because it is a MOOC, it will not be the same as a traditional online course where there is a more involved instructor grading every assignment,” Hoffman said. “It is not like that. It is more of a guided type experience.”
According to Fodor, the course is appropriate for Bonaventure.
“I know that St. Bonaventure University has in its holdings (The Holy Name Library) some of the finest documentary collection of Franciscan resources in North America,” Fodor said.
Fodor said these materials, along with a faculty of prominent Franciscan scholars, makes Bonaventure the best place of origin for the MOOC.
“The course title exploits a fruitful ambiguity in the name ‘Francis’- referring to both the 12th century saint and the 21st century pope,” Fodor said. “That in itself is exactly the kind of theological inquiry and exploration that is needed, one that once retrieves resources from the past tradition and presses for relevant answers to the challenges of the present world.”
Troy Hillman, a senior theology major, said he has found success with online courses in the past and encourages other students to try it out. He is also interested in the topic of “The Gospel Vision of St. Francis.”
“Both figures inspired me and enlightened me, bringing me into a deeper and broader understanding of what it means to love and what it means to be human,” Hillman said. “To have an opportunity to learn about these two giants of the faith would be wondrous.”
Ellen Piper, a sophomore theology major, said she has never taken an online class before, but this could be a potential first.
“I would definitely consider taking this course, as Pope Francis is doing some wonderful things and is very interesting to me,” Piper said.
Hoffman explained that the course will be offered on top of an already extensive list of online-course offerings at Bonaventure, including some Clare College courses and two graduate majors: Leadership and Integrated Marketing Communications.
Hoffman would not say when the course will be ready for students or how much it would cost the university to produce, as it is still in the development stages.
